last friday my Japanese friend who lives in Hong Kong took me to a new Japanese restaurant on Minden Avenue in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon.

the place is called Rikyuan (利久庵 ) which has been opened for about week.  it seems supposingly an Izakaya (居酒屋) where you can order any kind of Japanese food yet the interior doesn’t look like Izakaya.  well, it’s typical HK style of Japanese restaurant (bingo!  soon i found the owner is a Hong Kong guy).  anyway i always feel this sort of atmosphere is a bit mismatched and weird.

however, the master chef is a real Japanese guy and he undoubtedly offers typical Japanese quality of services.  since my Japanese friend came here before, the chef soon recognized him and gave us some “service” (in Japanese, they call “service” when the restaurant offers you something for free) - a dish of my favorite Horse Sashimi (馬刺)!   it’s really not common item in Japanese restaurants in Hong Kong.

finally our bill was HK$ 1,600 for 3 people, including our order of a bottle of Shouchu (焼酎).  honestly, this place is not impressive at all for such price.

so i realize that it’s very uneasy to run gourmet business in Hong Kong especially Hong Kong people have grown up with very picky philosophy on gourment.  either great taste or very cheap, otherwise you may not survive within 3 months.

anyway… Rikyuan (利久庵 ), good luck to you!

lastly, whenever i go Japanese cuisine in Hong Kong, i do miss Japan more…
theoretically… it’s like nicorette not really same as smoking a cigarette!